Customer reviews for 23,000 BTU Kerosene Portable Heater

The DuraHeat 23,000 BTU Portable Kerosene Heater can help you reduce your total home heating costs as well as provide warmth to those hard-to-heat areas up to 1,000 sq. ft. The heat output is adjustable with a simple dial control and an auto-shutoff feature is built in for your safety. This heater operates without electricity and offers an excellent source of emergency heat and light during power outages.

Colorado Cold-snap

The Saturday after this Christmas our furnace went down, I bought one of these the month prior in case we lost power during winter. I am glad we did! The first day we ran it was pretty much the only day we had the kerosene smell, break-in time I guess, but we ran it for seven more days more with no issue. Except for the night temperatures dropped in the minus digits, the house stayed at 70 degrees and no water pipes lost. I would fill it and found if you ran it on low a tank would last almost 12 hours, with a 2.5 gallon jug filling it three times.

I liked the guard on it since we have two medium sized dogs, and it wasn't hard to put together especially if you are in panic mode with low temps like I was (worried about the family and the house).

Afraid of kerosene heat at first.

I contemplated getting a kerosene heater for many years but never did because of my intense fear of carbon monoxide, a house fire and just liquid fuels in general. We were hit with single digit arctic air recently and of course we lost power right in the middle of it. You are now at the mercy of mother nature and waiting and hoping the utility company is able to restore power asap. It was only three hours this time but it was very stressful and COLD! I did a lot of research and settled on this heater. I am so happy I did. I have found that a lot of the fears attached to kerosene heat are unfounded. Follow the directions to the T and just use your plain common sense. Kerosene is safe and very easy to store and use. I cannot tell you how great it feels to know that we can protect and provide for ourselves in an emergency situation. We will be warm! I intend to get another unit soon.

Winter Life Saver

Purchased this for back up heat in case of a power outage!! I put it on to take the chill out of the house and I cannot bring myself to shut it down. I put the heater in the basement and it is warming the whole house which is 2 stories high. It is -7 degrees outside and the house is nice and warm. I have no worries about a power outage or storm knowing I have this wonderul heater to get me through..

Great Heater!!!

Purchased a similar heater from a different manufacturer last year and had to return it after 2 days of operation due to fumes. Purchased this heater from my local Home Depot with the thinking that if Home Depot was selling it, it had to be the real deal. After several days of operation, I can find no fault with this heater. Sturdy construction, easy to assemble and operate, and wonderful heat for our 1300 sq ft apartment. Heater burns for about 10-12 hours for each tank of fuel. With respect to performance and heat output, this heater reminds me of the old Toyostove heaters from the 1980s-90s. Thanks to Home Depot for a great product at a great price. If you are thinking about getting one, you had better hurry. My store only had 2 units left and Winter is only beginning.

1 for 2 on workmanship

This is my second DH-2304. The first worked flawlessly for years until it was damaged beyond repair. My second purchase has a manufacturing defect which allows the gear attached to the the wick raising knob to slip out of alignment with the rack gear and drop the wick. When I disassembled to see if it was the wick, I noticed the rack gear has a failed spot weld. Contacting the MFG to get it replaced now.

When it was working, it was able to heat my entire house during power outages. The only odor was at start up and shut down but nothing overwhelming.

Pros: Easy to Use, Nice Design

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+1point

1out of1found this review helpful.

Review 6 for 23,000 BTU Kerosene Portable Heater

Sandy

from Hudson, Ohio

Age Range:65 or over

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Gender:Female

Home Improvement Profile:Other

Great money saver for heating only one room, instead of the whole house!!

I have used several of these over the years. I find that I can set the home thermometer lower, and light the kerosene heater and stay toasty in the room where I am. Just GREAT in the AM & I don't have to use the furnace to be comfortable when I get out of bed. I wouldn't be without one in the Ohio winters.

Exactly what I Expected - Happy with Purchase

Delivery was fast. The kerosene heater is well built and easy to setup. I chose this based on product reviews of several heaters and so far I'm happy with the purchase. I only tested it for 1 hour (to be used for emergencies) but it puts out a lot of heat.

My first experience with a kerosene heater

The instructions were less than steller for a first timer with this type of heater. Viewed a YouTube video which was 100% more helpful. Not much to starting it once you know. The first time I started it I placed it outside as suggested to insure minimal oder moving forward. Throws out allot of heat and the kerosene smell is minimal. The hand pump that came with it did not work too well. I used a funnel instead and it worked great. I use it in the two car garage and it warms things up guickly. I won't mind working in the garage during the winter.

Well worth it!

Chicago is 5 degrees, no heat in house. Running this heater for the last 3 days. House is 70 degrees. This will run for 13 - 15 hours on a tank. I do have it set a bit lower but 1100sq house is toasty until furnace is fixed. There is a slight kerosene odor after filling tank but great for any emergency.

great heater, great value

I bought this originally for my garage to do work in the winter, but found I needed it in my house during an ice storm. I was out of power for days and this heater heated up my 1700 square foot house with no problem on low heat setting. It took about 12 hours to use 1 tank of fuel on low setting. It cost me about 6-7 dollars a day to run for those few days during the ice storm. The fumes were minimal. The fumes were stronger when I got close to the end on my tank of fuel. I just opened a window about 2 inches to keep it ventilated because my house is pretty air tight. I used a k-1 cleaner mix in my fuel which also helped keep the fumes to a minimal, that cost me around 7 dollars and will last you atleast a month or more of continuous use. I would reccommend this heater to anyone.

Works extremely well.

Very impressed with the unit. Purchased it to supplement the central air heat in the house on cold days, but realized it was able to heat the entire 2.5 story (non-vaulted ceilings) 2,200sqft house to 71 degrees when outside temps were around 9 degrees. Leaves no smell during normal operation and only a very slight smell on startup, but shutdown generates a noticeable kerosene smell that usually dissipates in 5 minutes. It's better to shut it down in a well ventilated area if the smell is a problem. Operation time on a full tank(1.9 gals) is 10 hours following the recommended flame height setting in the product manual.

Just buy it

I bought this little gem because my rented palace has a reverse cycle AC unit that eats power like a starving army eats food. Did the math---kero (at a gas station, supposedly the "right" kind) costs about $4.00 a gallon. The tank capacity on this unit is about 2 gallons. So--eight bucks to fill it. One tank of fuel lasts about 10 to 12 hours. My power bill was about $60 a month in the coldest part of the winter while using this heater.

Now--as to operation and maintenance. If you can, fill the tank outside. You will spill kerosene no matter how careful you are. The design of this unit anticipates that and if you overfill the tank (easy to do with the supplied siphon pump) a catch plate below the unit will get most if not all of the overfill. Follow the instructions to the letter the first time you light it up. Let the wick soak up the kero for at least 30 minutes--and preferrably longer. Light it outside the first time and play with the wick height control until you get heat and no smoke or smell. Then grab it by the wire cage and bring it inside--quickly.

It will get hot fairly fast. Peek at the flame and keep adjusting the wick down by putting one hand firmly on the control knob and release the safety lever with the other as the unit heats up to do this. Chances are the first time you try it you will see the wick disappear and the fire will go out. Relight it and do it again. IT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CHECK THE FLAME LEVEL EVERY FIVE MINUTES DURING INITIAL START UP. It will get bigger and bigger and start to smell if you don't reduce the wick level. The unit will settle down and burn evenly in about 30 minutes.

How well does it work? Here's an example--my mobile home (yeah, yeah, I know) was about 1000 sq ft. The temp in the morning was about 48 degrees inside. Within 30 mins of operation the temp rose to about 65 degrees and climbing. Within an hour it was 75.

I replaced the wick once--and once you get the bits taken apart and do it wrong once or twice you will figure out the right way to do it. Youtube has pretty good instructions as does the manual. Wicks are cheap--replace it once a season.

Now--here's the acid test. Would I buy another one? In a heartbeat.

Tip--I bought some kerosene deodorizer and added it to the fuel. It doesn't ake much.

A little disappointed...

1) Auto light feature doesn't work and the Instruction manual does not address the issue which is the heating element/starter does not come close enough to the wick. I guess I can tear it all apart and "adjust" but one would think that it SHOULD work out of the box.

2) There is a fairly strong smell of kerosene while operating; the best K-1 kerosene money can buy, flame adjusted as recommended, burner centered and a fresh air supply (window open).

It does heat my garage... but it would have to be the worst of emergencies before I would bring it into my house.

Seemed very fragile

PostedDecember 30, 2013

Overall rating

3.0out of5

Quality

3.0out of5

Value

4.0out of5

No, I do not recommend this product.

I really liked this heater for about three days. I typically would use it about eight hours a day in my shop. Beginning the third day the automatic starter stopped working, although I could see the element heating, but it was not reaching the fuel source. A few days later the control knob for the fire began to jam and I had to lower the flame by easing down on the kill switch. Finally tonight, the spring came undone and we had to use a fire extinguisher to get it to stop burning. No harm done, but I did have a frustrated wife. I have had it less than 90 days, so going to return it tomorrow and see how that goes.

A must have in cold climates

This is a basic appliance that keeps you warm in an outage very easily and without any hassle.

Pros: Easy to Use, Looks Great

+22points

22out of22found this review helpful.

Review 17 for 23,000 BTU Kerosene Portable Heater

dacarny1

from Detroit, MI

Horrible

PostedNovember 29, 2014

Overall rating

1.0out of5

Quality

1.0out of5

Value

1.0out of5

No, I do not recommend this product.

Bought this junk to heat my garage. Had problems right from the start. The knob never would lock unless I very delicatly moved it or it would spin and go all the way to the shut off position. after we did get it lit we were surprised to find out that it stayed lit after we put it out all night burning up a whole tank of K1! So this happened twice after double making sure the flame was out, causing the wick to be ruined. I replaced the wick with a duraheat replacement and now the wick doesn't even compact the top of the rim. Pure junk, taking it back tomorrow. DON"T BUY

0points

3out of6found this review helpful.

Review 18 for 23,000 BTU Kerosene Portable Heater

DickO

from Lakewood, NJ

Nice - but one downer

I originally bought this heater to allow me to work on my enclosed porch this winter. It really beats the electric strip heater I had there. Then I got my December electric bill $396.61 vs Nov 205.64! I am in a Senior community - all individual strip heaters for each room So the heater came inside. My house is about 1200 sq ft. This heater can keep the whole place about 80degrees, on its low setting! At 0 - 10 below it still keeps me in the good 70s! Its only bad point is the cheap batteries provided. Don't waste time installing them - get Energizers (2@C-size)!

+30points

30out of30found this review helpful.

Review 19 for 23,000 BTU Kerosene Portable Heater

Paul

great emergency heat source

Have not yet needed it, but have tested it and it warmed the main area of our home very effectively. We purchased as an emergency heat source. NH can get cold in a power outage, and this will really help make the experience less painful.